"'Yudhishthira said, "Thou hast discoursed to me, O thou of righteous
soul, on the duties of the four orders. Do thou, after the same manner, O
king, discourse to me now on all the ordinances respecting the Sraddha
(of deceased ancestors)."'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by Yudhishthira, the son of
Santanu set himself to declare unto him the following ritual, consistent
with the ordinance of the Sraddha.'
"'Bhishma said, "Listen, O king, with close attention, to me as I
discourse to you on the ritual of the Sraddha. That ritual is auspicious,
worthy of praise, productive of fame and progeny, and is regarded as a
sacrifice, O scorcher of foes, in honour of the Pitris. Gods or Asuras or
human beings, Gandharvas or Uragas or Rakshasas, Pisachas or
Kinnaras,--every one should always worship the Pitris. It is seen that
people worship the Pitris first, and gratify the deities next by offering
them their adorations. Hence, one should always worship the Pitris with
every care.[396] It is said, O king, that the Sraddha performed in honour
of the Pitris is performable afterwards. But this general rule is
restrained by a special one (which directs that the Sraddha in honour of
the Pitris should be performed on the afternoon of the day of the New
moon).[397] The (deceased) grandsires become gratified with the Sraddha
that may be performed on any day. I shall, however, tell thee now what
the merits and demerits are of the respective lunar days (in view of
their adaptability to the performance of the Sraddha). I shall discourse
to thee, O sinless one, what fruits are attained on what days by
performing the Sraddha. Do thou listen to me with close attention. By
adoring the Pitris on the first day of the lighted fortnight, one obtains
in one's abode beautiful spouses capable of producing many children all
possessed of desirable accomplishments. By performing the Sraddha on the
second day of the lighted fortnight one gets many daughters. By
performing it on the third day, one acquires many steeds. By performing
it on the fourth day, one gets a large herd of smaller animals (such as
goats and sheep) in one's house. They, O king, who perform the Sraddha on
the fifth day, get many sons. Those men who perform the Sraddha on the
sixth day acquire great splendour. By performing it on the seventh day, O
monarch, one acquires great fame. By performing it on the eighth day one
makes great profits in trade. By performing it on the ninth day one
acquires many animals of uncloven hoofs. By performing it on the tenth
day one acquires much wealth in kine. By performing it on the eleventh
day one becomes the possessor of much wealth in clothes and utensils (of
brass and other metals). Such a man also obtains many sons all of whom
become endued with Brahma splendour. By performing the Sraddha on the
twelfth day one always beholds, if one desires, diverse kinds of
beautiful articles made of silver and gold. By performing the Sraddha on
the thirteenth day one attains to eminence over one's kinsmen. Without
doubt, all the young men in the family of him who performs the Sraddha on
the fourteenth day meet with death. Such a man becomes entangled in war.
By performing the Sraddha on the day of the new moon, one obtains the
fruition of every wish. In the dark fortnight, all the days commencing
with the tenth (and ending with that of the new moon), leaving only the
fourteenth day out, are laudable days for the performance of the Sraddha.
Other days of that fortnight are not so. Then, again, as the dark
fortnight is better than the lighted one, so the afternoon of the day is
better than the forenoon in the matter of the Sraddha."'"